Shooting Stars
by Ronslilangel
Summary: Transformed over the summer, the Trio return for their final year at Hogwarts.But what happens when Hermione gets more attention than she hoped for?Throw in shooting stars, Malfoy, and a bit of luck, Ron and Hermione find who they are destined to be.RHrHG
1. Return to Hogwarts

Hey guys! This is my first fic in..lets see...uh, 4...5 years? So be kind. I know the beginnig may start a litle shaky and unoriginal, but it was just to get me started and get my brain in the writing mode again. Before you begin, i beg you to forgive me if it takes me a little time to update. I WILL try my hardest, but I have two words for my dear readers. Nursing. School. I'm on a two week vacation right now, so I should be able to update rather quickly until then. But anyways, on with the story!!!! ---->

**Shooting Stars **

"I don't believe it." Ron said flatly, furrowing his brow.

"Ron, you've just got to learn to deal with it," Harry said crossly, placing his bags down at his side as they stood outside the boarding steps of the Hogwarts Express. It was a beautiful day on September the first, and loads of people were bustling about, some kissing each other goodbye, others franticly trying to get on the train to find their friends. It was here, on these very steps where Ginny had met Harry for a quick peck on the cheek before running inside with her friends, that Ron had quite accidently walked in up them, witnessing the entire event.

"But..but she's my sister Harry! My SISTER! That's just...disgusting."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but she's not a little girl anymore. You can't turn all big brotherly on her now. She's 16 and capable of making her own decisions" Harry said defiantly, obviously not set on taking no for an answer. "We're together now, and I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but it's best now than later mate."

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish out of water, but when he failed to yield one single reason why their union was to be disapproved, he gave in. "Oh alright. But if I ever walk in on you two snogging.."

Harry laughed. "No worries mate. I wouldn't do that to you. But speaking of changes over the summer, you haven't happened to come across Hermione yet, have you?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows at Ron with a smirk on his now tanned face.

The summer had been kind to both him and Ron. Ron and Harry had finally reached the apex of puberty and, along with many exercise videos, had grown to be very "tall, dark, and handsome" as many girls had put it. Harry had grown a few inches and added tone and definition to his once puny body. He had finally convinced the Dursley's (after much arguing about how he wouldn't ever bother them for anything else again) to buy him a new pair of glasses, without the tape. Ron had grown the same, although the effects were more obvious. He now stood a good 6"4, towering well above Harry. His hair, although still fiery red as ever, was much more controlled and laid boyishly on top his head. His experimenting with the body building equipment had left him with a very nice six pack, which didn't go unnoticed as many of the girls walking passed turned and giggled at him.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?" He questioned curiously. Was there something he was suppose to know? Had she also acquired a new boyfriend without telling anyone? After all, she and Harry HAD been sending each other quite a bit of mail over the summer (or as Ron was told).

"Just wondering." He smiled knowingly, picking up his now dormant bags from the ground. "I'm going inside to find us a seat. I'll see you inside." And with that he stepped up onto the train and disappeared into a cloud of students. 'I bet he's only going ahead so he can get a good snogging session in before we leave. Absolutely disgusting.'

But the truth was, he had a small bit of jealously for Harry. Harry had finally mustered up the courage to do what he had been trying to do with Hermione for the past 6 years- ask her out. Not that he could blame him, but Harry always seemed to get things done a lot quicker and swifter than he ever did, and for that he was jealous of his best friend. What was the meaning behind asking about Hermione? Did Harry know he had been secretly in love with his best friend for these past years? No. It was impossible, wasn't it?

But then, Harry had always seemed to have a sixth sense for this sort of thing. He always figured out Ron's problems (with the solutions nonetheless) long before Ron even comprehended he HAD a problem. He hated him sometimes. But then, that was part of the magic of the famous Harry Potter. Maybe his sister was better off with his best friend. At least it was someone he trusted with his life. As much as he hated to admit it, he was proud of Harry. Not that he would ever say it to his face, mind you. He still had to maintain the "protective brother" status. Justttt in case. He didn't want people thinking he was getting soft now, did he? He smiled softly to himself.

He was broke out of his thoughts by the sound of a very familiar brunette in the distance screaming his name. 'Oh God' he thought. 'Screaming his name'.But, he shook his head, that was too far away. In time maybe, but not presently.

He looked up, and his jaw nearly dropped from his mouth. Obviously, the summer had been good to her too. Her body was now full of those luxurious curves, accentuating her every feature perfectly. Her once bushy hair now lay dormant and flat on her head, and, it seemed, she had discovered the wonder that was makeup.

She quickly made her way up to him and grasped him in a big hug. "Ron! It's been so long! I can't believe school is going back so soon, can you believe it? I mean, I just barely finished the required readings for the term! I was so busy OWLing you and Harry-well mostly Harry-" she added as she noticed Ron's face. "but even so! I was afraid for a while there that I wouldn't finish re-reading them before term!" She smiled widely, obviously a little embarrassed at not having finished much sooner. As they lifted their trunks onto the train, Ron merely shook his head.

'Well, somethings never change.'

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That's it for this chapter..like a said, it's just a warm up. It will be original, I promise . In the meantime, please R/R. I do appreciate approving comments, but I would rather like critical ones to know where i can improve. As a nurse in training, I following the motto " self-evaluation is the best precursor to improvement." :)


	2. Unwanted welcomes

Several hours later the Hogwarts Express rolled up to the station, students filling out in suite, claiming the carriage of their choice that would carry them up to the castle.

Harry held the door open as Ginny came out, followed by Ron and Hermione. "Thanks Harry" Ginny smiled, taking his hand and walking to the nearest available carriage. Hermione noticed this gesture and smiled softly to herself. She knew Harry and Ginny would want some time alone, and seeing as how they wouldn't be getting much more of it once classes started decided to leave them alone.

"Ron, what do you say we go sit with Luna and Neville, huh? We haven't seen them in a while."

"But-" Ron started, but Hermione quickly interrupted.

"Oh COME ON Ron, please?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes, which made him only sigh in defeat.  
" Oh alright, but don't think I don't know why." He gave one longing look towards the couple, now seated side by side and whispering to each other, before reluctantly following Hermione to the carriage a couple ones back.

" Hey Luna, Neville," Hermione smiled, looking up at the two. "mind if we join you? We haven't talked to you guys in a while and thought it might be nice for us to catch up before we reach the castle."

Neville looked up and smiled. "Why, of c-course Hermione! But, why aren't you sitting with Harry?" his eyebrows raised questionable.

But before Ron could answer, Hermione responded. "We just thought it would be nice to, you know, stir things up a bit. That is, if it's ok with you guys?" she looked from one to the other, and when neither protested, stepped up onto the pedestal and sat down across from Neville, Ron seating himself next to Hermione.

"So, how was your summer Neville? Anything interesting happen?" her eyes scanning quickly between Neville and Luna's intertwinned fingers, a bright smile on her face.

"N-No...not really!" he squeaked, quickly grabbing his hands from Luna's, turning a bright shade of red. It was obvious he didn't wish to indulge his secret just yet, which was fine for Hermione. Neville was always a bit shy when it came to girls, and she knew he would come around in his own time. She was sure he wasn't ready for the attention he would receive for dating "Loony Lovegood". She was just happy that he finally had the courage to step up and ask Luna out. It had been quite obvious for sometime.

"Hermione, you look quite different this year," Luna piped in, with the same airy voice she always used. " any particular reason in the..change?" She looked up at Hermione, awaiting an answer.

Hermione, however, only turned red. That was certainly a question she wasn't expecting. " Oh, uh..well..you see...n-no..I..I don't think so...I just..like it I guess.." her voice trailed off as she looked at Ron from the corner of her eye, who had obviously seemed to have gained a particular interest in the conversation at the mention of Hermione's new look.

"Oh, ok." She replied, obviously not noticing the sudden tension in the air, and looked back down to the magazine article she was reading (Narwakes: Where are they most dangerous?).

The rest of the carriage ride up was quite uneventful, with only the occasional talk of how each others summers had gone, and what they were planning on doing with their final year at Hogwarts. As it turned out Luna have traveled in France with her father hunting for Nargolks, while Neville spent most of it reading up on spells he might encounter on his NEWTs. It was on this mention that Hermione verbally appraised him for preparing himself, dropping a (very) obvious hint to Ron, who only mumbled something about "havings better things to do" and went silent once more. It wasn't until they begin to climb off the carriage that anything happened.

Ron had jumped down first, holding up his hand for Hermione, who only blushed and took it gratefully. It was very un-Ron like, but she wouldn't dare question his action, in case he took it as an insult. Neville followed suite and, after wishing them farewell, Ron and Hermione hurried to catch up with Harry and Ginny, now quite ahead of the crowd.

" It sure is great to be back!" Hermione exclaimed gleefully, looking up at the majesty of the castle, now aglow with all the candles and the wavering scent of the thousands of foods inside just waiting for students to come and help themselves to after the sorting. She suddenly caught her breath in her throat. She wondered if he would notice this year? She had been trying to get Ron's attention, but it didn't seem to have worked yet. But time will tell.

However, by the time she looked up again, many students have made their way in between them and it was now impossible to find her certain redhead amongst the crowd, yet alone any Gryffindor now that she thought about it. She looked around, but yet all that seemed to be around her was a bunch of Slytherins. Walking friskly ahead (who felt comfortable around a bunch of Slytherins anyway?) she began to get to unsettling feeling that the group was beginning to get smaller, with her being the delicious centerpiece.

It happened in a blink of an eye. One minute she was struggling through the crowd, and the next a strong force shoved her into a hidden crevace of the castle, pushing her against the stone. Briefly having knocked the wind out of her, she couldn't see anything in front of her except the blood now dripping from her newly formed head wound from being shoved so roughly into the stone, stinging her eye. Struggling with her vision, a rough figure began to take form in front of her.

"Malfoy." She muttered, her voice dripping with disdain. "What do YOU want?"

" Granger," he began, his hands pinning her hands roughly against her head. " You've seemed to have...grown up over the summer" an evil gleam shining in his eyes. "It's very attractive to say the least." He smiled, his eyes now roaming freely over her body.

"Get the hell off me Malfoy!" she spat, not caring at the moment for the profanities now leaving her mouth. She couldn't believe he would stoop so low as to practically kidnap her in plain view of all the students.

" Oh I will," he began. "for now." And just as quickly as it had began, he released her hands, shoving her back into the open with the now thinned out crowd.

He vanished into the darkness, leaving her to only stare at the place where they had once been.

"Oi! Hermione!" Ron yelled out, waving his hands in the distance, quickly approaching her. "Where have you been? I have been loo- what the hell happened to you?!" Ron eyes grew wide as he stared at the now blood-stained spot on Hermione's head where Malfoy had shoved her.

"Oh, I just..tripped and hit the stone. It doesn't hurt, honestly. I'll get it fixed up as soon as we get back. Promise," Reaching her hand up, she gingerly feeling the wound.

Ron raised his eyebrows at her, highly doubting that that was how it happened, but shrugging it off, they walked together up towards the great double doors where Harry and Ginny stood waiting for them.

"About time you two show up," Harry smirked. "We thought we'd have to come find you two. You were gone so long we were suspecting maybe you two were gone snogging or something."

Hermione laughed nervously, and Ron's face turned beat red.

"Of course not Harry! I just had a little run in with the wall, and Ron helped me." She started, looking from Harry to Ginny nervously.

"Well, lets get going, I'm starved!" Ron grabbed Harry's arm and dragged them all into the hall, the entire time Hermione looking nervously behind her back, only once turning to see Malfoy in the darkness winking at her.

'This year is definitely going to be interesting.'

Harry's POV:

He stood beside Ginny, impatiently waiting for Ron and Hermione to catch up with them. What could be taking them so long? They were only a couple carriages behind them. Of course, he knew that something was going on between them and it was only a matter of time before both came to their senses and realized it. Even still...it wasn't like Hermione to be late for anything.

He was just about to suggest going to look for them when he spotted the two quickly approaching, Hermione's clutching what looked like a bleeding sore on her head.

"About time you two show up," he smirked. "We thought we'd have to come find you two." Then, as an afterthought, or perhaps just to get a reaction, he added "You were gone so long we were suspecting maybe you two were gone snogging or something."

He smiled to himself as Ron turned beat red. Yes, he would be getting an earful later, but he had gotten the reaction he hoped. It proved his theory that they fancied each other. Imagine, his two best friends practically smitten with each other.

"Of course not Harry! I just had a little run in with the wall, and Ron helped me." Hermione said.

Before anyone could respond, Ron had grabbed his hand and was now proceeding to practically drag him into the hall. "Well, lets get going. I'm starved!"

'Yup.' Harry thought to himself. 'This year is definitely going to be interesting.'


	3. Astronomy Class

OK guys, i'm back. I just recovered from having my wisdom teeth removed and I'm up and running. I have the next couple of days off so hopefully I will be posting very quickly. Any lag in time is due to brainstorming for ideas. Anyways, I must say i am disappointed in the responses i've been getting. (other than Brittany who loveess my updates ) I've received mannnyy hits, but hardly any reviews. boooo. But anyways..on we go--->

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Over the next couple of days life for the Trio had been drastically changed, save Harry, who was already used to the stares and whispers. Everywhere they traveled it was either girls whispering and pointing at Ron from a corner, or boy after boy, ranging from the incredibly geeky to the incredibly hunky trying to talk to Hermione while she was alone. It was rather annoying to Hermione, who was actually rather angry with the attention, much to the surprise of Harry and Ron.

"I say!" she declared, slamming her books down onto the dinner table and sitting herself down, piling meatloaf onto her plate. "You would think there would be less shallow men at Hogwarts."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking up from his conversation with Dean, who had momentarily found himself staring at Hermione when she walked in and quickly looked away, returning to the conversation he and Harry had been having about Quidditch.

"I mean," she started, " that none of these boy's had the slightest bit of interest in me last year and the only reason they care now is because I _look_ better. They could care less about me! Can you believe that earlier today I had one today openly confess his love for me, and then after his rant about how we were meant to me, asked me my _name_? Honestly. Men! When are you guys going to get things straight? Girls are NOT merely you're 'playtoys'!" She looked from Harry to Ron to Dean, and finally to Neville, as if expecting that one of them might at any moment openly express their apologies for the inferiority of men. On the contrary, it looked as if the four were trying to hold back laughing in her face.

"Sorry Hermione," Harry laughed, "it's our nature I suppose."

"Quite." She replied angrily, now scooping mashed potatoes onto her plate, still fuming from her ears as Ron stared gaping at her outburst.

The next couple of minutes went on in silence, no one wanting to break the silence and unleash the anger of Hermione again. She was angry, this was true, but not just because of the other boys. Truth be told, she had yet to receive any reaction from Ron to her new look. She had at least expected some sort of sarcastic reply whenever she returned from being asked aside from some new boy, but no. It actually seemed like he cared even less or, she didn't dare think of it, was somewhat downtrodden at her receiving some of the attention that he seemed to be quite enjoying from other girls. He wouldn't let go unnoticed a big smile crack across his face whenever girls he didn't even know would wave to him, giggle, and then hurry off in the opposite direction. Girls as young has first years were treating him like God. They were, quite frankly, treating him like Harry. Harry seemed to be the only one unaffected by the attention, and even appreciative that he wasn't the only one receiving it anymore, as if they now knew the agony and embarrassment he went through everyday.

Twenty minutes later seemed to drag by due to the silence that had fallen amongst the group, broken, ironically, by Hermione.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," Hermione said, standing from the table and grabbing her bag,. "I have class in twenty minutes."

Leaving them at the dinner table with the promise of meeting them later in the common room she headed up to her last class-Astronomy. Just until recently Hermione would have told you that she believed Astronomy to be in the same line of magic as Divination- a complete and utter waste of time and brainspace. However, as she had visited France over the summer, she had always visited her aunt and uncle, two people with whom she didn't quite get along with, were very well off, had an emormous love of stars included with their own astronomy tower, and had also (to Hermione's pleasure) one daughter, only a couple years older than she. It was due to her relatives extremely boring nature that she had grown quite attached to her older cousin, who also shared her parents love of the stars, and they had therefore spent much of the summer just sitting outside under their invisible ceiling (very similiar to that of Hogwarts), and talked about anything any everything they could think of. It was here that Hermione had indulged to her cousin all feelings she had never before shared with anyone else. And, it was through this immense release, that she had helped Hermione discover her love for her best friend, that certain redhead that was often the center of their conversations.

-Flashback-

"And he just makes me so mad sometimes!" Hermione ranted, taking in deep breaths as she had just finished a partically nasty one about how Ron had done something trivial to upset her.

"So," Brittany said, pausing only to allow her cousin to take her breath. "you really love him, don't you?" she smiled.

Hermione, however had a look no less of utter shock on her face. "I-I what??!! I don't LOVE him, I can hardly TOLERATE him sometimes!!" she now directed her anger at her cousin, unable to believe she would accuse her of such things. Had she not been listening to her at all for the past half hour at how Ron constantly made her mad, or picked on her?

"Hermione, you're my cousin, so i'm going to be honest with you. You love him. Why else would he get to you so badly? I'm sure he isn't the only one do such "scandals" to you. And, quite frankly, i'm willing to bet he feels the same. No one picks nitpicks without particular reason. Take the Yule Ball for example." She held her hands open, as if weighing the ideas of what she just had said.

Hermione remained silent for a good five minutes, before breaking out into a whisper. "Oh my God. I love him. I LOVE Ron Weasley"

-End Flashback-

After returning home the week before term started, Hermione had decided to take up Astronomy as one of her electives. It wasn't that the actual information appealed to her, but just the idea of being outside with the stars, learning all that her cousin had shared with such passion to her, that made Hermione swell with something- love, perhaps? Or was it pride? Whatever it was, Astronomy had become one of her favorite classes and she looked forward to attending each and every class. She had, of course, tried to persuade Harry and Ron to take it up, but after hearing their various excuses and complaints (that gives us six classes Hermione! We don't love studying all the time like you!) she had decided perhaps it was better that she was taking it alone. It left her time to reflect, and seeing as how classes took place at night, gave her some freedom away from the common room.

Winding her way up the staircase that led to the Astronomy Tower, Hermione met up with the only person in her class that she knew, Luna Lovegood. It was no surprise to Hermione that Luna would have taken up the class. She always had the air of someone who loved anything at all that was abstract and had no exact science to it. Hermione liked the company, however, because after six years of having her two best friends to share class with, it was a bit lonesome to sit by herself, which was partly the reason why she was beginning to enjoy this class more than she did her Ancient Runes class.

"Hey Luna," Hermione smiled, approaching the girl, fully dressed in long dark robes with little stars and moons on them. It was Luna's favorite class, and she therefore had said she felt the need to "celebrate" the occasions they had class by pleasing the " little men" who lived on and ran each star in order to gain favor in their eyes. A bit strange nonetheless, Hermione welcomed someone who shared her passionate love in the course.

"Why, hello there Hermione." And with that the had come to the door to the tower, which Luna held open for Hermione, who muttered her thanks and walked in, taking a seat in the front row with Luna.

A few more minutes passed until their teacher, Professor Delany, walked in."Good evening class," she smiled, looking around at the class, which was composed of only a handful of students. Their classes were held outside on a little balcony just large enough for the class, and their telescopes, to fit in, yet not small enough to cramp anyone.

"Now, I hope you all did you reading on the different types and forms of Shooting Stars." She stated, now stepping up on her pedestal so that her voice would be easily carried. " I am sure most of you are already aware of the muggle theory of shooting stars. When One sees one, it is a custom to make a wish, which will then theoretically come true to the one who wishes it. Whether or not this is mere fact or fiction is up to much controversy, as how there are a score of wizards and witches who would swear that some sort of luck or fortune that had bequeathed them was because of the star. However, no scientific evidence has supported it."  
This was another reason why Hermione loved Professor Delany much more than Trelawney. Professor Delany took a more scientific approach to the course, although the idea of "scientific" was up to debate with a course so fragile as Astronomy.

" There are three different forms these stars can take," she continued, "and each star is a sort of 'omen', for a lack of a better word. There is first the Star of Despair, which falls the slowest of the other two, with a dull flickering shimmer to it. It is believed that whoever witnesses this type of star is to have something terrible happen to them in their future.Terrible things, that can permanently scar the intended. It is hard to recover from these types of stars." She paused, and looked around to see a general shiver course through the class although there seemed to be an absent of wind.

"The second is the Star of the Phoenix, which earns it's name from the same mystical creature. Most commonly referred to as the "stork" to muggles, it 's falling form seems to be that of a bird in flight, and any young woman seeing this can expect to become a mother soon." A couple of swoons were heard from the females in the class.

"Finally, the last star is The Star of Desire, the only true star that is believed to having the capability of making wishes come true. This star is the most brightly colored and shining of the other three. Shimmering in brilliant silver, it seems to glide through the sky. And, as I mentioned previous, it is said to grant wishes."

The class continued for another hour, the conversation switching from Shooting Stars to the individual constellations and the different backgrounds behind them. It was a good 9 o'clock by the time class came to an end, and the class began to file down the tower.

"Are you coming Hermione?" Luna asked, turning to her friend who hadn't moved from her seat.

Hermione looked up. " Oh, you go on ahead Luna. I have a lot on my mind and I just want to stay here for a little longer." She smiled up at her.

"OK, I suppose I'll see you later," and with that she left last, closely followed by Professor Delany, having given Hermione the permission to remain up her alone for a few minutes.

After making sure everyone was Hermione was gone, she lay on her back, her hands behind her head, staring up and the stars and just thinking about everything that had occurred during the week. Perhaps she needed to be more blunt with Ron. Ron was, after all, not the brightest crayon in the box. She furrowed her brow, staring at a particular constellation. Yes, perhaps that what was the best option.

But what if Ron didn't feel the same way? She couldn't risk ruining everything they had built up over the past 6 years in just one sentence. Being the logical girl she was, she was sure that Ron would consider her mental if she just up and confessed her love for him. Yes, that would certainly be an interesting conversation:

" Just finished my History essay! Oh, by the way Ron. I'm madly in love with you and have been ever since first year. You're all i can think about. I can't sleep without your face to fall asleep to, I can't smile without your sweet face smiling back at me. Oh, Ron, please say you feel the same! It's all I've ever wanted!"

She shook her head. No, no, that simply wouldn't do. He would send her straight to St.Mungo's. She had to make sure, so she had no choice.

She had to go to Harry.

Making up her mind, she gathered her stuff , straightened her robes, and turned to leave.

However, if she had at that moment turned around, she would have seen a star falling to the Earth. Slow moving and dull, it's flickering was no brighter than that of any other star in the sky, and it was clearly directed towards Hermione.

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Well, thats it!! I hope you guys like it.


	4. Unsettling experiences

OK guys...I'm beginning to think I'm going to scratch my eyes out in order to get reviews here. : ( come on!!! I want to know what you guys really think!

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Hermione exited the now darkened Astronomy tower, being careful so as to not trip on the steps as she walked down. The hallway wasn't the place in the world for nighttime strolls, which struck Hermione as ironic seeing as how the classes could only take place at night.

The halls were very weathered from the intense years of rain and snow that had beaten down on them, which had therefore caused various sorts of vines to take a liking to the brick, winding themselves up and across the walls, making them look even more ancient and haunting than usual. Add to that the creasing sound her feet made with each step, and the fact that not only was she alone, but the various house ghosts tended to wander the tower throughout the night, it had caused Hermione to become very uneasy indeed. Normally she was very level headed about these sorts of things. Rarely did she ever get spooked by things normal people would consider scary. Ron's fear was spiders, Harry's was dementors, and so it was only right Hermione had hers-which just so happened to be the dark. It sounded a bit girly to her to know that of all things scary in the world to be afraid of that she was afraid of the dark, and it was for this reason she hadn't told anyone of her fear. It was silly really, but it had stemmed from childhood when her friends would tell each other ghost stories late at night and fall asleep with the lights on. For a muggle child, ghosts were a very frightful thing indeed. And so ever since the fear stuck with her, no matter how she tried to shake it. She had faced giants, trolls, basilisks and dementors, but the dark still was her pet peeve.

When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs and a much greater deal of light she let out a sigh or relief and slowed her stride. Now all she had to do was walk calmly back to the common room and she would be alright. That was always the worst part of her journey, and now that it was over she could relax.Everything would be alright now, and just in the nick of time too it seemed.

She looked outside the great window at the foot of the stairs and saw a great bolt of lightening streak throughout the sky, followed quickly by a loud clap of thunder and a curtain of rain, now falling sideways due to the great deal of wind that had accompanied it. Pausing only momentarily to see the rain pound at the side of the castle, she proceeded to make her way down the hall.

Swinging her bag in her hand and tucking a strand of hair behind her head she began to hum quietly to herself. Thunderstorms always put her in a good mood for some reason, and she know took advantage of the alone time to stroll slowly throughout the castle, pretending she were ten years in the future and was the newly appointed headmistress doing her nightly patrols through the castle. It was always a dream she had, to one day return to the one place she loved more than anyone, except perhaps Harry who hadn't had a real home before, and being able to aid students in their quest of knowledge and future careers. Everyone always expected her to do something great with her life after school, like working in the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement, but if she were truly honest with herself, teaching was where her heart really lay. She loved this place, and couldn't imagine leaving and never returning again.

Turning the corner around a picture containing a woman quietly soothing her crying child, she came to an abrupt halt. Something was there, lying in the middle of the walkway in a crumble. What was it? Surely it couldn't be a student-?!

Her heart jumped in her throat as she approached the bundle, noticing the limp figure of a body, an arm sticking out from under the cover. She quickly knelt down and shook the figure on what she thought would be their shoulder.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" she exclaimed now suddenly aware of her surroundings, a million questions flooding into her head. Who had done this, and why? Would she be forced to carry the person herself down to the hospital wing, or would she have enough time to fetch help? But then she couldn't just leave the figure lying here helplessly on the ground. Who knows what could happen to them in the time she would be gone?

Receiving no answer from her shaking and many attempts to speak with them, she reached for the cloth to remove it from the body. Perhaps she could identify the student at the very least. Grabbing the material, she slowly lifted it and began to pull it back. What she saw caused a loud gasp to escape from her mouth.

Malfoy. She couldn't believe that someone as conceited and strong witted as Malfoy could have fallen victim to some freak accident, yet here he was bleeding and broken, barely conscious. As much as she hated the idea of helping him, she knew it was her duty as a prefect to help all the students of Hogwarts..no matter how much she hated them.

His lip was bruised and swollen, there were various cuts all over his body, and it seemed he had hit his head on his sudden fall to the cold stone. "Oh, Malfoy," she said, her voice much caring that she had expected, and she looked sadly over him. Whoever had been able to do this to someone like Malfoy must have been strong. Surely he hadn't been alone, always having Crabbe or Goyle following him, and whatever it was must have scared them away, because they were the type of people to leave their friends for dead instead of risking their own necks.

Quickly deciding on the best course of action, she turned her back to him and hurried back to her bag that she had abandoned some twenty feet back to fetch her wand. The best thing to do was to just levitate him to the hospital wing. There was no way in hell she could carry him, and she feared he would worsen in the time it would take to fetch help-besides, all they would be able to do is take him to the hospital wing anyways. Madame Pomphrey was the only help for him now.

She reached her hand into her bag, rummaging around through all her school things, telescopes, quills, textbooks, and through her notebooks she passed, when she heard a strange noise behind her. It sounded like scrapping on the stone, and fearing Malfoy had come conscious and was trying to carry himself towards help, she quickly turned about.

She only had her head turned about halfway when she was suddenly hit over the head with something very large and bulky and fell to the ground with a crash. Struggling with her eyes, for it had temporarily blacked out her vision, a blurry outline of Malfoy standing above her.

"What are you..how...why?" Was all she could manage, mouth gaping open as she stared at him as he held his wand pointed down towards her in one hand while the other proceeded to wipe off the "blood" and "bruises" from his face, wiping off with such ease that Hermione had at that moment realized that it had all been a setup. She glared at him with such anger as the immense amount of red, black, and blue makeup covered the once white clothe that had once covered his body.

And to think, she had felt sorry for him. She should have known Malfoy wouldn't have placed himself in the position to be beaten. She also should have known that there wasn't anything in the castle capable of doing something like this.

"Well,well, if it isn't the Mudblood." He said, an evil smile plastered on his face, an evil gleam in his eyes.

"You of all people should know that such _fragile_ and _weak_ people such as yourself shouldn't be out this late. It could be dangerous," he said in a sarcastic voice, waving his wand carelessly around her as if mocking her situation.

Hermione sat perfectly where she was, which was in fact the ground that she had fallen to, her right arm grabbing her left as she had fallen on it. Blood dripped from her leg where she scrapped it on her fall, and she would swear she had twisted her ankle. She didn't put it past Malfoy to do anything dangerous or illegal towards her. He had shown a complete lack of authority since she had known him, and didn't trust him one bit.

"What do you want Malfoy?" she said with a sneer that could have rivaled his own.

He smiled. "Did I not tell you at the start of term that you would be mine? A Malfoy is always true to his word. I watched you carefully over the past week, studying your work patterns and plotting the perfect trap." He paused momentarily for effect as her eyes traveled over the small corridor in which they found themselves.

"Oh don't worry, I've cast a spell on this area, no one will be capable or coming anywhere near here. If anyone comes within 100 feet of this place, they will suddenly be overcome with the idea that they've forgotten something very important and will turn around. Brilliant, huh?"

His lip twitched at the thought of his own brilliance.

"Now, if you would kindly come with me," he started, but Hermione quickly interrupted him.

"I'm not going _anywhere_ with you, _Malfoy_!" she snarled, now braving herself against the wall, although she didn't think she had a chance past that.

However, he seemed to notice her new found courage and now pointed his wand straight at her face.

"You're coming with me. Even if i have to force you."

That was the last thing Hermione heard before everything went black.

---

Hermione awoke feeling very groggy and sore. The last thing she had remembered was hearing Malfoy saying something about force, and then everything had gone black. And yet, here she lie, completely unaware of anything going on around her.

Opening her eyes, she looked around at her surroundings only to find the room was in complete darkness save a few candles burning at table to her left and right. Judging by the feel of the material, she assumed she was lying on a large bed, although where still remained a mystery. Surely he couldn't just bring her up to the Slytherin common room- students would stare and begin to ask questions!

Panic now overcoming her, she went to reach forward to a sitting position only to find that her wrists had been tied, or rather chained, to the bedposts. Looking down, she noticed she was stripped of her cloak and school clothes and was now attired in a rather, well, _revealing_ garment. The dark blue blouse she wore was very tight fitting, stopping at her bellybutton and appeared as though it were made for a little child. Her skirt could hardly be called such as it just barely covered anything. It reminded her of the ones those pop singers on muggle television would wear in one of their sex videos. For one fleeting moment an image of Brittany Spears popped into her head.

Her shoes had been removed and her feet now curling at the sheets beneath her. She had been dressing a little more casually lately, but this was insane. She felt very exposed, and it wasn't helping her omnious feeling that she was in grave danger.

She let out a loud scream, unsure if anyone would be able to hear her but trying her best.

The candlelight flickered and Malfoy stepped into her view. "Well well, you're finally awake. You know, I expected you to be asleep for a couple more hours. I should have figured a witch as strong as you would only be out for a couple hours."

Hermione gasped. "A couple hours?! What time is it?!"

" Almost midnight." He replied obediently, like a dog expecting a treat.

"M-Midnight? Ohhh, you are so in for it Malfoy! Just wait! I bet you ten dollars Harry and Ron are already out looking for me!" she smiled triumphantly up at him, half expecting him to realize the fault in his plan and release her.

"So what?" he shrugged, "you can't prove it anyways. Besides, no one's going to find you here. Recognize this place at all?" He turned around in his place, showing off the room with his hands.

He waved his wand in the air and her body sudden became completely stiff. The body binding curse.

"It was, after all, your inspiration that brought us here. The Room of Requirement. So even if the Potty and your little Weasel were to come looking, they wouldn't find you. Now, what do you say we get to know each other a little better?"

He crawled onto the bed, smiling down as he approached her. Hermione suddenly became very aware of how revealing she was and that her breasts were practically hanging out. She suddenly blushed and glared at the same time.

However, her embarassment was short lived as she suddenly felt his lips on hers. She tried to kick him off of her, but he was too strong and pushed her shoulders back into the bed, deeping the kiss. He bit at her lips at probbed at her mouth with his tongue, forcing her mouth open and roaming roughly around her mouth.

While his mouth was busy with hers his hands began to feel over her body, mainly her breasts, which had by now betrayed her and stood hard and firm, giving him perfect access.

"Knew you soften up to me," he moaned into her mouth, obviously taking her bodily responses to him as a sign of arousal.

"Gerroff!" she tried to scream into her mouth, although it was drowned out by his tongue now forcing itself as far into her mouth as humanly possibly.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, tears began to flow freely down her mouth. She had had dreams about how her first kiss would be, slow and breath taking. She had imagined fireworks going off and a sense of weightlessness. She had pictured it at night, under the stars, staring into the eyes of her lover and soulmate. And, ever since second year, she had imagined that someone kissing her as Ron and the two losing themselves in their love for each other.

This wasn't how it was suppose to be! This was wrong! He had stolen something from her that could never be replaced, and she hated him with every being of her fiber for that. He would pay. Whether it be today, tomorrow, or next week she would make sure he paid for the pain he had caused.

Suddenly, she felt her legs wiggle a bit. Her throat catching in her throat, she completely forgot Malfoy's tongue (which was now kissing a line down from her neck) to her legs. Why was it that she could move? Perhaps, she thought, because Malfoy's magic was weak. He never did too well in classes, and it seemed it had finally caused his downfall.

Wiggling her toes a bit, the sensation of movement suddenly returned to her entire left leg. Holding back a smile, and did the same until her right leg regained stimulation. Finally, she would be able to get out of here. But she had to make it convincing. She knew she couldn't overpower Malfoy, especially since he had his wand him and she had no idea where hers was.

Smiling deviously, she began for the first time to kiss him back.

" Oh Ma- Draco, I never knew what such a good kisser you were." She purred, spotting her chance at freedom. She had to seduce him senseless.

He looked up at her, surprised at first until his face melted into a smile.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me. Now, why don't you play nice for daddy?" he looked into her eyes, which now gleamed with seduction, and unlocked the chains holding her down. Obviously she had earned his trust and, now believing she wouldn't run, had set her free.

"Oh, I've been a bad girl," she moaned, grabbing his shoulders and turning so that he was the one lying on his back, with her straddling him.

He moaned. "Punish me."

His eyes closed as she bit along his neck, all the time keeping her eyes focused on the target. His wand was sitting beside his head. Now was the moment, with his eyes closed.

Slowly, kissing his neck so as to ensure he wouldn't open his eyes, she inched her fingers forward to grasp her fingers around the wand.

"AHA!" She shouted, quickly jumping off the bed and pointing the wand at him.

"W-What?!" he said, his eyes shooting open and looking at her. But before he had time to catch up with these new events, she screamed "_Petrificus Totalus!"_ and his arms and legs snapped shut to his side, leaving him lying on the bed.

She ran to the door, stopping only momentarily to grab her bag and wand she had spotted in the corner, and bolted out.

She ran as fast as her legs could take her, tears pouring down her face and she tried to force the events of the past couple hours out of her head. How could she have been so foolish to fall for such a simple trick? She should have known not to trust Malfoy, and now here she was, half naked running through the castle. After this was over, she was going to need some serious therapy.

She ran all the way until she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, pausing only momentarily to catch her breath.

"Snickerdoodle!" she yelled at the portrait (how dare you dress like that! Girls these days!), which swung open to allow her entrance. Slamming it closed behind her, leaning against it for support.

Upon entering the first thing she noticed were Ron and Harry rushing towards her from their sitting position next to the fire, obviously waiting for her. So she had been right, they had been worried about her and were waiting for her return.

"Oh my God, Hermione what the hell happened to you?!" Ron screamed at her, concern flashing through his eyes as he stared her over, which were now roaming up and down her body. "And what are you WEARING?!"

Harry interrupted, "Where have you been, what happened?!" he hammered, questions flooding through both their heads.

But Hermione, however, had other plans. Too exhausted from the run and too shocked from the trauma of what just happened, she fainted right then and there.

---

Harry looked at the clock. It was midnight, and he and Ron were sitting in the common room waiting for Hermione to return back from class. Her class released at 9, and it wasn't like Hermione to be late for anything, especially when she had promised her return in order to help them with their Potions assignment.

"Where do you think she is?" he asked Ron, who sat across from him, staring worridly at the fire.

"I dunno." He managed softly, and it looked as if his eyes were glistening. Ron knew she was never late for anything. He had tried to convince her not to take Astronomy, because he knew classes took place at night and he didn't like the idea of her walking through the corridors by herself at night. Sure, it was okay when they did their Prefect patrols because he was with her, but he didn't trust her by herself, especially with the way she looked this year. Anyone could just jump out of a corner and take advantage of her.

It was now 12 am. She was 3 hours late. He and Harry had considered going to search for her, but decided against it as they would have no idea where to search and would probably run into Filch or Snape before Hermione, in which case they would not only be forced to return to their common rooms, back at square zero, but they would have detentions on top of it.

Suddenly the portrait hole swung open and they heads turned fast as lightening to the entrance. However, they did not expect what would come next.

There stood Hermione, dressed in the skimpiest of outfits, beaten and bruised, crying, and breathing very quickly. They stood and ran over to her.

"Oh my God, Hermione what the hell happened to you?!" he screamed at her, concern flashing through his eyes as he stared her over, which were now roaming up and down her body. "And what are you WEARING?!"

Harry interrupted, "Where have you been, what happened?!" he hammered, questions flooding through both their heads.

They stood there, anxiously awaiting answers from a very pale Hermione when it happened. One minute she stood staring at the two incoherently, the next her legs had given way and she started to fall.

Ron acted quickly. He swooped his arms around her and caught her mid-fall. Carrying her close to his chest, he carried her over to the overly large couch next to the fire and laid her down, tears falling from his face.

"What the bloody hell Harry," he whispered to his best friend, who now stood, shocked, staring at the limp and weak body of Hermione.

Too scared to leave her by herself, and wanting to be there when she awoke, they chose to sleep in the common room with her. Harry chose a seat across from the couch, and Ron sat down right next to Hermione, lifting her head and placing it carefully in his lap. After staring at her bruised face for a few more minutes, sleep finally overtook him and he leaned his head back against the cushion and slowly fell into slumber.

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Tada!!!!! Thats it for now!! PLEASE R/R..I'm seriously thinking about not updating until i get better results from reviews than I have been getting...I'll be thinking it over!! Until then..!


	5. The morning after

Hey guys, I'm back! I just wanted to thank you guys for your reviews-you did much better this time and I'm very excited!! It motivates me to update faster wink wink .

I hope you guys didn't find the last chapter too nasty. I must admit I had some difficulty in attempting to write Malfoy being all over Hermione..shiver. Okay, i'm done blabbing now and I'll let you get back to the real reason you clicked... Tallyho!---

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Sunlight streamed through a window, striking Hermione's face as she was softly awoken from slumber. Feeling slightly awkward and realizing she had no idea where she was, she slowly opened her eyes to see herself lying face down in Ron's lap, who's own eyes were still closed in slumber, head resting against his chest. She smiled momentarily until recognition dawned on her as to the events of last night and her stomach lurched.

Malfoy had taken advantage of her.

Grimacing, she moved to sit up, only just realizing how sore she was. Her ankle was swollen and red from running on it after she had already injured it, her arms were beaten and blue, and she had scrapes all over her legs and face. Reaching a sitting position, she moved comfortably around to face the fire, only to find Harry already awake and watching her. She jumped softly, but then relaxed again.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly looking over her bruises, concern flashing through his eyes.

He looked terrible. His eyes were blood shot and his hair was standing up on all ends. It was obvious he hadn't sleep well, if any, that night. Hermione felt a pang of guilt. It was her fault they had slept here last night, and she imagined it must have been very uncomfortable indeed.

"Oh, alright I suppose, considering.." she answered, trying to ignore the inevitable question as to exactly _why_ and _how_ it had happened. If she was going to tell them, it was going to be both of them, together. She would have difficulty enough trying to explain it once, she knew she wouldn't be able to do it twice once Ron awoke.

However, her concerns were cut short as a ruffling noise next to her let her know that Ron was awakened. She looked over to see him rubbing his sore eyes as he yawned. Opening his eyes completely, which were somewhat bloodshot, he looked down at the spot where Hermione had slept. Confusion crossed his face momentarily until he looked up to see her now in a standing position in front of the fire.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, now acknowledging her presence. "Are you ok? What happened to you? Do you need to go to the hospital wing-" he moved to stand up, but Hermione quickly stopped him.

Hermione raised up her hand. " Ron, calm down. I intend to tell you and Harry," she looked over at Harry at this point, "exactly what happened last night."

With a defeated sigh, she sat down on the footstool and stared into the fire, tears threatening her eyes with the recollection of last nights events.

She didn't really want to ever have to repeat what happened last night. It was something that she had, all the way up until last night, promised herself to keep a secret. It was embarrassing and humiliating and demoralizing and- well, lets just say not the sort of thing she would ever have to admit happened to her.

She had always thought to herself that woman who got themselves rapped were weak. I mean, how hard could it possibly be to fend of a rapist? Just give them one good kick in the you-know-what and they're down for the count. Yet here she was, only just narrowly escaping what could have been much worse. She had turned into one of the women she loathed. Although, she remembered, she had to give herself some credit. At least the muggle women that would get raped had the advantage of not having magic control them.

She would have kept it a secret if Harry and Ron hadn't been up waiting for her last night and seen her the way she was when she entered the portrait hole. There was no way she would be able to keep it a secret from them now, even if she wanted to. They had been there for her through so much, and not telling them what happened when they clearly saw her condition was something she couldn't bear.

No, they had to know or else the trust between them would come crashing down and their friendship might come down with it.

"Last night.." she paused, taking a deep breath as she searched for the words that would best describe the events of last night. Losing her nerve and deciding to buy her a little time to manage her courage, she decided to change the subject.

"Well, first of all I want to thank you guys for worrying enough about me to stay up waiting. It was really nice of you guys and I really appreciate it!" She managed a smile, the first one she had been able to muster since yesterday, and looked up at the two.

Ron, however, saw her tactic and was quick to que her back in.

"Well of course we waited for you Hermione! We were scared to death! We would have come looking for you ourselves, but seeing as how Harry left his Maurauders Map in Divination-" he shot Harry a glare, who only shrugged sheepishly, before returning to the point he was getting at.

"But anyways, get back to the topic at hand, shall we? Which was, and I quote, 'what happened to you last night'.You have no idea how worried we were! Who knows what could have happened to you! I mean, you're never late for ANYTHING-ever, so we knew it had to of been something terrible, especially with the promise of homework to come back to. And well... I was worried most of all.." He looked at Hermione, tears forming in the corner of his eye. His voice had trailed off and softened so much through the last sentence that by the time he had said 'most of all' his voice was barely audible.

Somehow, she wasn't sure how, but that had given her the courage to continue. Maybe it was the sinking feeling of guilt when she looked into Ron's glistening eyes, or maybe the fact that he had revealed that he was worried most of all, but it seemed suddenly like she couldn't hold it in any longer.

She bowed her head in embarrassment as she began to speak.

"Last night, the reason why I was so late was.."her voice dropped to almost a whisper, as if just mentioning it allowed were a scandalous thing, I ran into Malfoy."

At the mention of the name Malfoy, Ron's face turned from one of sadness to one of loathe. Harry's had done the same, and it was hard to distinguish between which one seemed more upset. Obviously, both knew that anything that involved Malfoy would not be anything good. However, both were silent, allowing her time to finish her explanation.

"Well, I was walking back from Astronomy. I had stayed behind a few minutes to just kind of gather my thoughts, so I was walking by myself,"

Ron inhaled sharply. He had always tried to tell her not to walk the corridors alone at night, no matter how strong and intelligent of a witch she was. She had wished at that moment that she had followed his overly protective, yet wise, advice.

"-and everything was just fine until I turned around a corner near the Transfiguration classroom. I saw a bundle lying in the middle of the corridor. I walked up to see what it was, and i realized it was a student! Well, I got closer and realized it was Malfoy lying there! I couldn't believe anything would dare mess with Malfoy, and whatever it was had to of been really bad. He was unconscious and bleeding everywhere! And as much as I hate him, don't get me wrong," she added, seeing the looks on their faces that clearly said that she should have left him for dead, " but it's my duty as a Prefect to help all the students, no matter how much I detest them."

"So I turned around to my bag to get my wand so that I could levitate him to the hospital wing when i was knocked on my back. I turned around, and there was Malfoy, standing over me with his wand in one hand and wiping the 'blood' off his face with the other."

"He tricked me! And then, one minute he goes on about how he 'always gets what he wants' when everything goes black and I'm in the Room of Requirement, chained to a bed dressed in...dressed in that _thing_ that i was wearing, and he...he.."

Her voice faltered and her lip quivered as she reached this part in her story. She was comforted, however, by Ron's hand, which had reached out to hers for support. Focusing on his hand clasped tightly to hers, she continued.

"And then, he..he." her voice shook, "Oh Ron he took advantage of me!" her voice quickened, trying to get through as much as she could in one breath.

"I tried to get away, but by the time I had managed he had already been all over me! He touched me in places I wouldn't ever want to be touched, and he stole my first kiss from me! He stole it! Do you know how much I've dreamed about what that kiss would be like? It's a girls biggest fantasy and then he up and stole it!"

She took a deep breath as she broke until tears, throwing herself into Ron and crying loudly into his chest.

There, she had said it! She couldn't stand to look at either of her two best friends at that moment, too ashamed at herself, as Ron and Harry shared looks of death at each other.

Ron mouthed the words "Malfoy is DEAD!" to Harry as he rubbed his hand along Hermione's back, trying to soothe her.

Harry come over to the two and placed his hand on top of Hermione's, which was wrapped tightly around Ron's neck, letting the silence overtake them as Hermione cried herself out.

Ron was overcome with anger. He knew he should have watched over Hermione even more closely this year, especially with the way Malfoy was looking at her. Now, it had cost him. Malfoy had hurt the most important person in his life and had taken something from her she could never get back. Malfoy was going to pay dearly for what he had done. Nobody messes with Ron Weasley's love and gets away with it- nobody.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was perhaps only 20 minutes, Hermione's sobs slowly subsided and were reduced to nothing more than an occasional sniffle and hiccup.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she leaned herself forward to look into the eyes of Harry and Ron for the first time since she had admitted Malfoy had tried to rape her.

"I-I'm sorry you guys. I shouldn't have-" but Harry cut her off.

"Hermione, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. All of this was Malfoy's fault, and believe me, Ron and I are going to make sure he pays." He narrowed his eyes as he and Ron both nodded in agreement at what was said.

"Thanks you guys," she said, smiling up at them.

Silence followed for a couple more seconds until Ron finally spoke up.

" It's almost lunchtime," he said, as he looked up at the giant clock that stood above the fireplace. "I think you need food more than anything right now, and then we'll take you down to the hospital wing so Madame Pomphrey can fix up all your cuts and stuff for you."

"Oh," Hermione began, remembering the current state she was in. She reached around and took her wand from its place on the table and muttered a few well chosen words, pointing the wand at herself. Suddenly she looked as good as new, although a few of the deeper cuts still shown through a bit.

" Basic body healing spells," she explained, seeing the looks on their faces, "I read it in-"

"- a book." They finished for her, smirking down at her.

" Oh, well.yah. I did!" she blushed and smiled sheepishly at the two.

"Well, I'm starving!" she quickly said, standing up and acting as though the spell had also healed her memories of last night. " I'm ready for lunch! Let's go!" She turned to walk out the portrait, hand on the door,when Ron interrupted.

"Oh, uh..er, Hermione, I think you might want to change first." He blushed a deep red.

"Why?" Hermione asked inquisitively, "whats wrong with my ro- oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, blushing as furiously as Ron was and mentally smacking herself for forgetting what she was adorned in.

"Yah, I don't think we want anymore stares," Harry laughed, looking between his two best friends who now looked as though they had been badly sunburned.

Trying in a vain attempt to cover herself, she screamed "be right back!" and darted up the steps to the girls dormitory to change.

Harry watched her go, still laughing, and turned to Ron.

" Well, that's one thing we'll never forget." He said, watching Ron's face which stood glued to the staircase Hermione had just run up.

"I know, she was bloody hot.." he whispered in awe, forgetting that Harry could hear.

Sometimes Ron was so clueless.

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Sorry it took a little longer to update guys! Yesterday, August 21, was my 20th birthday and lets just say updating was not on my mind...ok, so maybe it was, but I had better things to do. I knew you guys would forgive me, right?

I knew i loved you guys for a reason.


	6. She belongs to me!

Hey guys, I'm very sorry for the long update, but I've been very verryyy busy with school. Please forgive me with nice reviews:

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Ch. 6- She belongs to me!

Once she reached the girl's dorm, Hermione grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the showers. She desperately needed to clean herself up- she looked like a train had just run her over.

Locking the door and turning on the water jets, she slowly let her clothing fall down around her as she stared at her figure in front of the large mirror that stood as tall as she. She sighed as she looked over the various cuts and bruises she had managed to miss earlier. However, she thought against healing them by magic. They would make good scars in time, and even though she didn't really care for the memory, they were a good reminder of all the rough times she had faced in her life. Hopefully, someday when she was old and wrinkly (and hopefully happily married to Ronald with children), she would look back on that night and laugh.

Once she began to feel the steam rise from the shower, she stepped in and allowed the water to splash over her body. Normally she was a quick shower taker, in and out in five minutes. There were, after all, hundreds of students that had the need to use the showers as well. But today she needed the time to relax and let her worries disappear. She closed her eyes and lifted her head, allowing the jets to do their magic on her shoulders and back. She watched the swirl of black flowing down the drain, carrying with it all the dirt and worry from her body.

She stayed under the water until it began to get cold. Turning off the jets, she grabbed a towel that she had placed on the bathside table and begin to dry herself off. Putting on her clean set of clothing, she looked in the mirror and thought at first against putting makeup on. It was, after all, the makeup that had put her in this situation.Before she had tried to make herself look prettier, Malfoy hadn't ever second glanced her. "But on second thought," she said to herself, her eyes wondering over the few scratches remaining, it would be best to put a little bit on. That would prevent her from being barraged with questions when they reached the Great Hall...

She finished dressing and arrived at the bottom of the stairs to see Harry and Ron sitting on the sofa in whispered conversation, although Hermione already suspected she knew what it was exactly they were plotting. Not that she blamed them for their attitude, she wanted to see Malfoy exploited just as much as he had done to her, and she had taken it upon herself to aid them in anyway possible to achieve this. Yes, she had the distinct feeling that her part in the whole plan would be to cover up and hide any misdeeds they would have in store that might get _them_ expelled in the process. No, there would only be one person suffering this time, and it certainly wasn't them.

They looked up as she approached them. " You look a lot better now," Ron said, looking over her face where they smallest traces of cuts were still noticeable.

"Thank you Ronald," She replied, wringing her hands around her shirt. She may have felt better, but that didn't change the fact that she was still utterly embarrassed at the way she had walked in last night, or the way she had fallen asleep in his lap last night. She blushed at the thought. It was exactly the way she imagined sleeping with Ron for the first time, but it certainly felt as wonderful. Even better in fact.

They were silent for a few moments when Harry interrupted them. " Well I'm starving, lets go to breakfast." He said, grabbing on to Hermione's hand and walking towards the portrait hole. Ron soon followed suite, and they all walked together hand-in-hand, Hermione in the center holding onto Harry in her right hand and Ron on her left.

When they entered the Great Hall, the only stares they received were those from the Slytherins. It was clear that they were the only ones that knew of what happened. 'Of course,' Ron thought to herself, 'Malfoy was bound to just brag about having almost raped the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts..'

However, it seemed Hermione was trying her best to ignore the stares, and proceeded to sit down next to Luna and began filling up her plate with food. After everything that happened last night she was absolutely starved.

"Hey Hermione, what happened to you last night? I never saw you come back to the common room after Astronomy?" Luna inquired, looking up into the eyes of one of her only friends. Hermione jumped, not expected to be asked about it. "Oh! Um," she squeaked, searching her brain for an answer, "I went to the library. I decided to go and research something for Arithmancy," she finished, knowing that because Luna didn't take Arithmancy, she couldn't question which assignment.

She only smiled. "Oh, okay then. I was just wondering. I know Ron and Harry were waiting up for you," she motioned over to the two who had seated themselves across from them and were looking apprehensively towards Hermione, sensing the sudden tension that had sparked. If Hermione wanted to tell people what had happened, she would, but as of current it was clear she wanted to keep it a secret.

"Oh, yah, we had forgotten about that," Harry added, catching on to Hermione's lie.

"Oh, alright." was all she said before returning to her eggs and the latest edition of her father's newspaper. Hermione, Ron, and Harry all let out a mental sigh.

With the coast clear and no more question's in the air, Hermione stole a glance at the Slytherin table, who were now openly pointing at her and sniggering. She was just about to open her mouth to say something when a drawling voice came from behind her.

"Well, fancy seeing you here Granger." She turned to see none other but Draco Malfoy himself looking down on her, a particularly smug, yet with a small trace of embarrassment, spread across his face.

"What do YOU want, Malfoy?!" She spat, looking over the bruise she had left on his arm when she had punched him in her efforts to escape.

"I just came by to tell you-" his voice dropped to a whisper, "that just because you got away last night doesn't mean you will in the future. I told you, you belong to ME." His voice leaking with seduction as his lips were almost on her ear.

His reply, however, didn't go unheard as Ron had jumped across the table and shoved him away from Hermione.

"You better stay bloody hell away from her!" He screamed at Malfoy, placing his hands out in front of Hermione protectively.

"Oh really?" his eyebrows raised. "And what exactly are YOU going to do about it? You can't be around her all the time. She doesn't belong to you anyways."

"She bloody well does too!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The Great Hall suddenly became silent as everyone turned to look at Ron, now beat red in the face, as Hermione stared at him with her jaw practically touching the ground. "I..I..What I meant was-" he began, stuttering for an excuse.

Realization hit, and Malfoy smiled evily, taking joy in the moment."Ohh...I see what it is now," he smirked, motioning to Hermione, " you're in LOVE with the Mudblood!"

Ron's eyes grew wide as saucers and, if possible, his ears turned an even brighter shade of red than ever. His body shook, and he was speechless, although whether it was because he was openly accused of being in love with Hermione or having him call her 'Mudblood', no one knew. Harry, however, sensed the danger and ran to the side of his friend.

"That's it, isn't it?!" Malfoy gloated, "The Weasel and the Mudblood in love! Weasel and the Mudblood sitting in a-" His singing suddenly ceased as Ron had jerked out of his shock and had thrown himself at Malfoy and was throwing violent punches to his face.

"How DARE you say that about Hermione!" He growled. He was a raving mess, and now he was taking his anger-ALL of his anger- out on the one person that had caused it all.

"RONNN!!" Hermione screeched, running up and trying to pull a very pissed off Ron off of Malfoy. Harry had soon followed suite, and with the two of them combined had mange to pull him off.

Ron, however, was insatiable. He tugged violently to free himself from Harry and Hermione, who used all their strength to keep them apart. Malfoy stood at looked Hermione straight in the eye, straightening down his hair and brushing the dirt off his robes.

"Your little Weasel might have saved you this time, but he won't always be there," and with that, he motioned to Crabbe and Goyle and they quickly left the Hall.

That left Hermione and Harry to stare incoherently at Ron, who had finally calmed down. "Ron, what was THAT all about?! I thought we agreed to wait until we put our plan into action!" Harry suddenly rounded on Ron, looking him dead into his eyes, who's own had never left Hermione's inquiring stare.

"Hello, are you listening to me?" Harry asked, waving his hand in front of Ron's eyes, trying to get his focus off of Hermione and instead on him. "Earth to Ron, Earth to Ron, come in Ron!" Harry said, his anger slowly dissipating into a small smile as comprehension hit him.

Ron ripped his eyes away from Hermione, and looked to Harry. "Er, what was that mate?" he asked, his blush returning as he suddenly realized he was caught staring.

"Ugh. Never mind," was the response he received. " Just try and control your anger until we can get our planned figured out."

"Oh, er, right..Sorry about that." His voice was quiet, and embarrassment shone brightly through his voice. Hermione, who had been silent to this point, suddenly spoke up.

"Ron?" her voice squeaked, barely audible as she tried to find strength within her. Ron looked to her nervously, desperately trying to not discuss what Malfoy had just mentioned. "Ron, about what Malfoy said-"

"Screw Malfoy!" he retorted, "he doesn't know what the bloody hell he's talking about! All rubbish!" he finished, looking into Hermione's eyes, hoping against hope she would be satisfied with the answer and wouldn't question him further. Hermione's face, however, fell.

"Oh, so..everything he said..." her voice trailed off, tears forming in her eyes. She had sincerely hoped that Malfoy's accusation about Ron loving her had been true...but Ron had just told her that it was all a lie. "Even the part about loving me?" she asked, avoiding his gaze. She didn't trust herself if he denied it, and she wouldn't let him see the disappointment in her face. She instead focused on a tile on the ground, pretending to be interested in it.

Ron looked into her face, searching her eyes—but for what? What exactly was he hoping to find? Understanding, anger...hope? He slowly opened his mouth to reply.

"MR. WEASLEY!" A voice bellowed, tearing both of them out of their thoughts as Professor McGonagall hurried over to the three. "How DARE you start a fight with another student!" she began, glaring between the three. "I would have expected better from you!"

"But Professor!" Harry began, " Malfoy was the one who started it!"

"I don't care who started the argument," she yelled, " the point is that Mr.Weasley started the fight!" Her lips were thin, and she looked very mad indeed, although Hermione suspected she could see a speck of sadness and guilt hidden beneath her eyes. "Now, if you would please, Mr. Weasley, we have a detention to discuss." And with that, she led Ron away from the Hall and up towards what was no doubt her office.

"Oh great! Now I feel guilty on top of everything else!" Hermione said, throwing her hands into the air. "Can I NEVER win?!" she groaned and looked over at Harry, who was still looking after Ron and Professor McGonagall. It was at her outburst that Harry looked back to her, the smug little smile returning to his face.

"And what other feelings were you feeling before, might I ask?" he smiled, looking at her knowingly. He was going to attempt to get Hermione to admit her feelings for Ron while she was at a disadvantage. True, it was sneaky and deceitful, but he was on a mission. Operation Red Head had begun.

Hermione blushed furiously "Oh..umm, you know..Anger..uhh..erm.." She struggled for an answer when Harry finished her sentence for her.

"Disappointment?" he suggested, eyes twinkling.

Hermione looked at him as if she had just been slapped. "Why would I feel that?!" she fought back defensively, "I'm not _disappointed_ he punched him or anything! Of course not Harry, how could you think that!" she rambled on for a few moments until she once again became quiet, having lost all strength in trying to argue him. Tears began to form as many different emotions overtook her. She was _angry_ for Malfoy for confronting her and provoking the anger from Ron. She felt _guilty_ that Ron had received a detention from it and _embarrassed _for the situation it had caused. But mostly, she was _confused_ about her feelings and _disappointed_ as to the answer Ron gave her.

She couldn't take it anymore, and she suddenly threw herself into Harry's arms as tears flowed freely down her face. He respected her emotional state and allowed her to cry into his chest, occasionally whispering words of comfort until her tears slowly subsided. It wasn't until he could no longer her sobs, and only the occasional sniffle, when he finally spoke up.

"So," he started gently rubbing his hand down her back, " you really do love him, don't you?"

--

Yup, thats all she wrote. When I wrote the last line I was thinking of The Little Mermaid, where King Triton says that to Sebastian at the end before he turns Ariel into a human again...I know, I'm a dork..

Also, did you notice that I put Ron at holding Hermione's LEFT hand? I was referencing it to the hand you wear your wedding ring on.


End file.
